Strand Theatre to have Dracula in October – MDJOnline.com

GA Metro Dance Theatre announced the kick off of its 61st season of dance with their fall performance of Dracula on Oct. 13-15 at The Earl Smith Strand Theatre, 117 N. Park Square in Marietta.

Continuing its seventh decade of performing and its third year of partnering with The Strand for its fall show, GMDTs Dracula will feature GMDT company dancers ranging in age from 13-18, who train at the Georgia Dance Conservatory on the Marietta Square. Professional dancers include Jonah Hooper, Raul Peinado, Gray Stoner, Ashleigh Whitworth and Patton White. They will join the cast of 40 local GMDT company dancers on stage. The show will also feature all new choreography and costumes, as well as a live organist that will play before the show.

Dracula,the Halloween ballet with a bite, transports participants to the land of Transylvania where dance and myth mix together in this legendary tale of Count Dracula and his three brides, the misfortunes of Jonathan Harker and fianc Mina Murray, and the ultimate struggle between good and evil. Based on the classic novel by Brahm Stoker and set to the score of Philip Feeney, it will have the original work of choreographers Raul Peinado and Ashleigh Whitworth.

Shows are Oct. 13-14 at 7: 30 p.m.; and Oct. 15 at 3 p.m. At the Friday the 13th premiere, participants can meet and greet post show with some of the cast members in the Lumiere Lounge at The Strand and enjoy a handcrafted cocktail with Dracula. The Oct. 15 show will also include a youth costume contest at intermission. Children, 18 and under, can come dressed in their costumes to win a photograph with Dracula and his brides after the show.

GA Metro Dance Theatre is a 501(c)(3), nonprofit, student-based dance company housed in the studios of Georgia Dance Conservatory on the Marietta Square. Founded in 1956, the company was formerly known as Ruth Mitchell Dance Theatre. Now under the artistic direction of Ashleigh Whitworth, GMDT educates, cultivates and inspires young dancers to become the next generation of artists and leaders through rigorous dance training and performance opportunities.